Sunday Sermon Given September 21, 2003

Topic: 21 September, 1827

Scripture Lesson:

For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard (D&C 32: 1 d).

The children of Israel recognized the Sabbath as a holy day. In addition to the Sabbath, there were six other holy days, recognized as times of worship, as well as forecasting future events. The first three observances The Passover, the Barley Sheaf offering, and the Feast of Weeks all of which coincide with Israel's first yearly harvest and testify of Jesus’ earthly ministry, with his death, resurrection and the initial harvest of souls fulfilled on the very days those festivals were observed.

The final three holy days or festivals are The Feast of Trumpets (also called Rosh Hashanah or the Day of Remembrance), the Day of Atonement, (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles, which fall at Israel's final harvest and also hold prophetic meaning for the Lord's work in the latter days. The three last festivals are referred to as High Holy Days, or Days of Awe.

Rosh-Hashanah is the first of the three fall holidays. The other two are Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles. Just as Yom Kippur is known as the Day of Atonement, so Rosh-Hashanah is known as the Day of Remembrance and has a third name, The Feast of the Trumpets. This moniker is taken from the book of Leviticus:

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I lam] the LORD your God. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the convocation. Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth lday] of this seventh month lthere shall be] a day of atonement. . . It shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God (Leviticus 23:22-28).

Rosh-Hashanah, or the Day of Remembrance, is a time when the Jews remember their covenant with God, and they pray God will remember His covenant with them. They are to recall the day that God established his covenant with them through Moses. Ezra used the Feast of Trumpets shortly after the Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon to restore the truths that had been lost while they were in exile (see Nehemiah 8:2, 8). This holy day of remembrance begins the preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is 10 days later. Let me summarize these: the Feast of Trumpets

1) Begins the last harvest,

2) Is for remembering covenants

3) Is for restoring lost truths, and

4) Begins preparation for a more Holy Day.

In the evening of the festival or holiday, prayers are said to plead with God that he will remember His covenant people. The following morning trumpets are blown. The blowing of the trumpets symbolizes God's final warning to repent. The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the Ten Days of Penitence. Yom Kippur  the Day of Atonement  is a judgment day when the repentant are reconciled with God and the unrepentant are cast off.

During Yom Kippur, the repentant believe they symbolically enter the Holy of Holies, or in other words, they symbolically enter the presence of God. So Rosh-Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, begins the final push to be reconciled with God before Yom Kippur.

One Hundred and Seventy-six years ago, Rosh-Hashanah began on the evening of 21, September 1827. That evening, prayers were said pleading that God would remember his Covenant People in exile. The following morning, on 22 September the trumpets were blown, heralding the period of repentance and preparation for The Day of Atonement. Something else happened early in the morning of Rosh-Hashanah on 22, September 1827: Joseph received the Golden Plates from the Angel Moroni. Was it a coincidence? The coming forth of the Book of Mormon heralds a period of repentance and preparation for the return of Jesus our Lord. September 22, 1827 marked the beginning of the last harvest before the great and dreadful day of the Lord ─ the Second Coming of Jesus ─ which will usher in the Millennium, thousand years where the earth shall rest and the Saints will reign with the Savior. The delivery of the Book of Mormon is evidence that God does remember his covenant people. From Mormon's preface of the Book of Mormon we read:

An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven--Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of ]srael what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever- And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations.

These four aspects of Rosh-Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, apply directly to the Book of Mormon. Both the Feast of Trumpets and the Book of Mormon

1) Begin the last harvest,

2) Are for remembering covenants,

3) Are for restoring lost truths, and

4) Begin preparation for a more Holy Day, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur ─ the day for meeting God.

The Feast of Trumpets was followed ten days later with the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. If we observe the scriptural pattern regarding each day as a year as referenced by Moses (Num 14:34) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 4:6), then a prophetic allegory is manifest ten years following the reception of the plates with The Day Atonement. The great evangel by the elders of the latter-day work commenced from the Kirtland Temple to the Land of Ephraim, or the British Isles, calling them to repentance and inviting them to obey the gospel on Sunday July, 23, 1837. That date marks the first sermon preached in England by Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde. Metaphorically speaking, were that first sermon occurred on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement!

As already pointed out the: Lord commanded Israel, "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets" (Lev. 23:24). By setting the festival in the seventh month of the Judaic calendar, (usually falling in our September) that day, like other Israelite holy days that God commanded, was timed to coincide with an agricultural harvest (Ex. 34:22), in this case the harvest of fruits and grapes, the final harvest of the year. The Feast of Tabernacles which follows 10 days later celebrates the completion of Israel's harvests.

The correlation between Israel's holy days and the harvest periods offer us a prophetic typology. The F east of Tabernacles is typical of Jesus’ final harvest of souls. I believe we can glean from this festival, the final mission of the preaching of the gospel to gather all the House of Israel, which will be completed when the Savior reigns in the midst of his people. In other words it is a type of the Messianic reign after the completed harvest of souls.

And thou shalt take no purse, nor scrip, neither staves, neither two coats, for the church shall give unto thee in the very hour what thou needest for food, and for raiment and for shoes, and for money, and for scrip; for thou art called to prune my vineyard with a mighty pruning, yea, even for the last time. Yea, and also, all those whom thou hast ordained. And they shall do even according to this pattern. Amen (D&C 23:7).

And

Behold, verily I say unto you, that these are the words of the Lord your God; wherefore, labor ye, labor ye in my vineyard for the last time: for the last time call upon the inhabitants of the earth, for in my own due time will I come upon the earth in judgment; and my people shall be redeemed and shall reign with me on earth; for the great millennial, which I have spoken by the mouth of my servants, shall come; for Satan shall be bound; and when he is loosed again, he shall only reign for a little season, and then cometh the end of the earth; and he that liveth in righteousness, shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye; and the earth shall pass away so as by fire; and the wicked shall go away into unquenchable fire; and their end no man knoweth, on earth, nor ever shall know, until they come before me in judgment. Hearken ye to these words, behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds. Be sober. Keep all my commandments. Even so. Amen (D&C 43 :7).

The word of the Lord delivered in the last days is replete with "harvest" imagery:

"For behold the field is white already to harvest; and low, he the thrustest in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store the he perisheth not" (D&C 4c-d).

The Book of Mormon has been referred to in scripture as "the covenant sent forth to recover my people in these the last days " (D&C 39:3e). Its role has been to initiate as well as perpetuate the Lord's final harvest. It would therefore, be significant that the Book of Mormon plates were delivered to Joseph on the Feast of Ingathering or Trumpets, a holy day that coincided with Israel's final harvest and symbolized Israel's final harvest of souls.

The Feast of Trumpets testifies of God's remembrance of His Covenants with Israel. The Lord remembered Israel on this date following their return from Babylon when they were granted spiritual renewal. Remember earlier, we read that on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra read again from the book of the law. During their exile, they had lost God's truth. On that day, it was restored in plainness. Hearing Ezra read the word of the Lord again brought them repentance and joy.

On the very day, then, when they were observing the Day of Remembrance, they were actively engaged in hearing again the true law after it was lost to them while in exile. The full importance of this situation can only be grasped when we realize that the return from Babylonian exile is a "type" of the latter-day return from spiritual Babylon.

Today, on The Feast of Trumpets, scriptures are still read prophesying the restoration of Ephraim, or the House of Israel. One of those read is the 31^st chapter of Jeremiah. That text calls Ephraim "a darling son unto me" and states "I do earnestly remember him." The Jews today are praying for Ephraim. That prayer includes the latter-day church. They aren't even aware of who we are, yet the Lord is.

The Jews also read the scriptures having to do with Sarah's and Hannah's barrenness. On this day Rachel, Hannah and Sara are remembered. The implication of such "remembrances" is the fulfillment of the covenant-blessing previously promised but seemingly forgotten. After the Lord remembered barren Rachel, she was blessed with Joseph from whom came Ephraim and Manasseh, with the continuation of the birth-right blessing.

Through Hannah's ended barrenness came the return of righteous priesthood with Samuel. In like manner, accompanying the Book of Mormon came the restoration of the priesthood, with the authority to administer the gospel. The blowing of the Shofar, a ram's horn or trumpet, announces the promise to gathering Israel in the last days:

"And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcast in the land of Egypt" (Isa. 27:17).

Zechariah also foretells of a time to come when the Lord shall blow the trumpet, when Ephraim will help raise up God's covenant people in the day that he saves them:

"Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land" (Zech 9:12-16).

The name most often used on this day is Rosh Hashanah, which literally means the New Year. The day’s significance is really a new beginning. It is understood to be the day that the Lord God of Israel will move from his seat of judgment and sit instead upon the seat of mercy, the seat on which he will remember his ancient covenant people. This new beginning for Israel is to be initiated with the sounding of the trumpet.

The trumpet signifies the proclaiming of truth. The blowing of the shofar or ram's horn is used today, and is the major ritual of the Feast of Trumpets. The blowing of the shofar is seen as a symbol of revelation and redemption. The trumpet sound is associated with revelation because its first mention in scripture was at Mt. Sinai when Moses received the word of the Lord. It is therefore a memorial of that event. However, the sound of the shofar is also associated with future revelation. Ancient scriptures speak of the trumpet in relation to declaring the word of the Lord.

The imagery of proclaiming the gospel with a trumpet is a unique part of our latter- day heritage. Concerning Oliver Cowdery the scripture says:

And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump (D&C 23:5c ).

In the scriptures, the blowing of the trumpet signifies the call for God's people to assemble (Num. 10:2-3)

As a warning, as evidenced in Joel 2; and

As a signal of something important to come, as indicated in the Revelation of John when the seven seals were opened to him and he heard the seven trumpets (Rev 8: 1).

The sound of the trumpet signifies something important in the destiny of the House of Israel. The testimony as revealed in the Book of Mormon is still causing a gathering ─ offering a warning ─ and is still acting as a harbinger of great things to come.

Was the coming forth of the Book of Mormon on Rosh Hashanah coincidental? Truth is manifest through fulfillment. The golden plates were delivered on September, 22 1827. The Feast of Trumpets, with its prayers pleading for God's remembrance for his still exiled people, had begun at sundown the previous evening. The services continued the next morning, with the sound of the trumpets. All that the trumpets symbolized was now fulfilled. This was the day in which God remembered his ancient covenant people, the House of Israel. On that day, new revelation was granted that would bring a return to the true law.

It was on this day, the Day of Atonement, that Israel's final harvest was begun. From then on, Israel would be called to repentance in preparation for the time of judgment.

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come " (Rev. 14:6- 7).

The first missionaries of the latter-day gospel sent to the British Isles in June of 1837 proved equal to the task. Remarkable indeed, was the success they found. By April of 1838, twenty-four branches were reported with a membership of approximately 1,500. Apostle Kimball testified, "Numbers were added to the church daily, such as should be saved." This report echoes the same sentiments that the New Testament Apostles did. Apostle Kimball went on to say:

We would baptize as many as fifty in Preston in a week, exclusive of those in the country. During one short mission which Brother Hyde and I took into the country, after preaching five discourses on the principles of our holy religion, we had the pleasure of immersing one hundred and thirty in the waters of baptism" (CH Vol. 2:130).

On the Day of Atonement the repentant are reconciled to God and the unrepentant are cast off. Consider theses two scriptures:

And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fullness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation" (D&C 34:3e).

And

Verily, verily, I say unto you, They who believe not non your words, and are not baptized in water, in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father's kingdom, where my Father and I am" (D&C 83:12a).

These early Apostles and Elders took seriously the admonition given:

Verily I say unto you, that ye are chosen out of the world to declare my gospel with the sound of rejoicing, as with the voice of a trump; lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father; and it is his good will to give you the kingdom; and as it is written, Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive; and ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect, for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts; wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place, upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts, and be prepared in all things, against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked; for the hour is nigh, and the day soon at hand, when the earth is ripe; and all the proud, and they that do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that wickedness shall not be upon the earth; for the hour is nigh, and that which was spoken by mine apostles must be fulfilled; for as they spoke, so shall it come to pass; for I will reveal myself from heaven with power and great glory, with all the hosts thereof, and dwell in righteousness with men on earth a thousand years, and the wicked shall not stand. And again, verily, verily I say unto you, and it hath gone forth in a firm decree, by the will of the Father, that mine apostles, the twelve which were with me in my ministry at Jerusalem, shall stand at my right hand, at the day of my coming, in a pillar of fire, being clothed with robes of righteousness, with crowns upon their heads, in glory even as I am, to judge the whole house of Israel, even as many as have loved me and kept my commandments, and none else; for a trump shall sound, both long and loud, even as upon Mount Sinai, and all the earth shall quake, and they shall come forth, yea, even the dead which died in me, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed upon, even as I am, to be with me, that we may be one" (D&C 28:2a-g),

The relationship between these holy days may bear witness of what will occur in the last days. While Jesus performed the acts of atonement through his suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, the work is not yet complete. Jesus’ return will actually complete the reconciliation between Him and all those who have named his name, when those who have been washed in the waters of regeneration and have been anointed by the Holy Spirit can physically enter into his presence. This completion is indicated in Israel's last three holy days. It signifies something momentous to come. The period between Rosh Hashanah and You Kippur are called The Days of Awe, with the Day of Atonement considered most "awesome" and most holy of all days. The completion of the Savior’s redemption when he returns to his people regenerated in baptism and washed in his blood is a most awesome event.

Next follows the Feast of Tabernacles, signifying, as we've already stated, the completed harvest during the millennium. We are aware of the prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the House of Israel in the last days. It is also true that the feast days also foretell of events to come to pass regarding this latter-day work.

The New Testament disciples were aware of their prophetic significance and used them to bear testimony that Jesus was the Christ. The first of these holy days witnessed the connection of Jesus’ crucifixion with Passover. Paul tells us that Christ has become our Passover (1 Cor. 7:5).

His resurrection was foreshadowed in the offering of the first barley sheaf by the priest on the sixteenth day of Nisan, three days following Passover as the first fruits of the harvest. Jesus rose on the sixteenth day and became the first fruits of them which slept (l Cor 15:20). Fifty days later, Pentecost began. This day began the harvest of the wheat. On this first day of harvest ─ Pentecost ─ there were above three thousand souls who were converted by the Apostles’ preaching (Acts 2:41).

Through the last three holy days, the Lord bears prophetic witness to his latter-day remembrance of Israel's covenants. The Feast of Trumpets was fulfilled in the coming forth o the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the priesthood, by which those who obey his gospel are given the Holy Ghost. The Day of Atonement or (Yom Kippur), foreshadows the promised millennial reign when the harvest is complete and all Israel is saved in the Feast of Tabernacles.

We live in a day and a community which cast both suspicion and doubt on the Book of Mormon. We, therefore, want to remind you that we have a more sure word of prophecy. We have examined only one scriptural and historical evidence this day to strengthen your faith. I would encourage you to plumb its depths and discover its riches.

Joseph the Seers affirmation was:

The Book of Mormon is the most correct book on the earth and the keynote of our religion. A man will get nearer to God by abiding by its principles than any other book.

His successor, Joseph III testified,

We have before us what we call the Book of Mormon. . . To us this book is a peculiar one, and we have frequently known that evidences concerning the Book of Mormon and its divinity have been had by individuals outside of the church, as well as those of its members. And I have often wondered that individuals not represented in the church have been made to understand that the Book of Mormon is of divine origin; that in itself it contains the evidence of its truthfulness ; and its historical statements and the revelations in the book were certainly true. I may confess before you without any hesitancy that I have a clearer testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon than I have of the Bible, because I have heard a voice from on high stating distinctly as one man would speak unto another, , The Book of Mormon is of divine origin

The Book of Mormon, while containing the fullness of the gospel, disclosing the covenants made with the fathers, establishing peace among the faithful and testifying that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one God, has an even greater role. It has become for the believers the symbol of the exercise of our faith revealing a truth greater than the book itself. Listen to the word of Moroni the Prophet, the angel who sealed up this book, only to later deliver it Joseph the Seer

And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you. Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam, even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things (Mor. 10:4-6).

Read the Book of Mormon. Know for yourself that it is of God, for he shall bear divine witness to you of its divinity. I know for me that when I read that book, I was introduced to a person, someone whom I had never known, the Lord Jesus. That testimony has set my life on a course from which I have never retreated. May we be faithful, may we grow line upon line, precept upon precept, from grace to grace, until we awake, and arise in his image. This is my prayer. Amen and Amen.